Tintin and the Prophecy Stone
by DisneyPrincess55
Summary: Tintin and his best friend Nollie are en route to Egypt to prove a man is guilty. Along the way, they meet a sorceress named Rawnie who can tell there's something more to their friendship-but will they both survive the adventure?
1. Prologue

**This chapter is dedicated to Pink-Pencil-Girl303, for giving me the idea of writing a prologue to **_**Tintin and the Prophecy Stone**_** to sort of explain it all :) **

**"You can dream, create and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it takes PEOPLE to make that dream a reality." ~Walt Disney**

Prologue  
Through The Eyes of Tintin

"Hey," I looked up to see my best friend, Nollie, standing in the door to my office.

"Oh, hello there, Noll. Is everything al right?"

"Charlotte sent me another letter." Her face fell.

"_More_ gloating? Nollie, why do you even like that girl? All she does is make fun of you and brag about how rich she is!"

"I know, but when she's not bragging or teasing me, she's really fun to be around. She took me to see my first movie."

"What's the letter say?" She handed the letter to me and I read it.

_Dear Nollie,_

_I am in Tokyo with my Father. This trip is strictly business for him, but all fun for me. I've met so many new friends, and, of course, boys! A French boy named Philippe is here so, as they say in France, he's my new 'beau'!_

_When I come back in June you can meet him—if you're not too poor for him!_

_Maybe I'll bring you something back—if you can pay me in Japanese money! …Oh, what a shame. You're not rich. Sorry about that. Looks like you can't have any Japanese couture._

_Love,_

_Charlotte E. Blakesfield_

"What that rich snob," I muttered, handing it back to her. She sniffed and wiped a tear from her cheek. "Oh, Nollie, don't cry," I got up and hugged her with one arm, "Just forget about it. You don't need a friend like her, someone who makes fun of you day in and day out, who gloats about how amazing their life is—you don't need it."

"I know, but that means I only have one friend," she said slowly.

"Snowy's your friend, too," I put in. She smiled and looked down at the little terrier.

"Oh yes he is," she cooed, getting down at his level. I chuckled.

"Come on, I'll have Emilie make us some coffee." I led her downstairs and into the parlor. She turned on the radio and a slow jazz song was playing. She picked up Snowy and danced him around the room.

I brought out the tray holding the two coffee cups and stopped. My heart pounded as I watched her dancing with Snowy, her cheek against his white head, swaying to the music. She looked beautiful.

But wait, beautiful? Something wasn't right here. I put the coffee tray down and went upstairs. I stood there in my office, confused. I thought about Nollie and butterflies fluttered in my stomach. I never had felt this way about anyone before… I didn't understand it at all.

I was so consumed from my confused feelings I knocked over a lamp, whacking it to the floor with a loud _crash_. I hurried to pick it up, hoping that Nollie didn't hear it—

"What was that?" I heard a small voice from behind me and I didn't answer her. "Tintin, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" I answered loudly, and I saw her pull back from my tone. _She hated being yelled at because of her aunt_, I remembered. "Sorry," I said, facing her, "Everything's fine, Noll. Go back downstairs." She nodded, and I saw her eyes flicker. _What was that—disbelief? Fear?_ I couldn't tell.

After she was gone, I scrambled over to the window. So I was in love with Nollie now. All right, I could live with that. But it would have to be a solo feeling, a crush almost… Like Nollie could ever love me in return. She was too good for me and I knew it. She deserved someone better, someone who didn't know how to use every weapon in the book, someone who would become a lawyer someday and could support her.

But with Nollie being my best friend… I knew it would be hard to hide from her.


	2. The Adventure Begins

_Nollie  
_

One The Adventure Begins

"Nollie, get back here, you ugly girl!" Aunt Martha shrieked, chasing me down the street, "Nollie Roberts!" Thanks to my youth, I was much faster than her and I dashed into an apartment, closing and locking the door behind me.

"Yes, yes it _is_ final. Good day to you, sir!" My best friend, Tintin, yelled into the phone before hanging up, rather rudely. He was running his hands through his red hair when he noticed me. Snowy, his white dog, barked. "Oh—Nollie. Forgive me, I didn't see you there."

"It's all right. Another business call?"

"Yep. These men want to see if I'll buy this motorcycle off of them. Who knows what sort of bombs they have inside it—"

"Remind me again why they want to kill you _this _time?"

"It's a long story… Sit down." He gestured to his dining room table and I sat down. "A man was murdered a few nights ago, Wallace Burmpet. I think I know who killed him—but the man has an alibi, you see, he claims he was in Egypt with his friend Bill for a banquet…"

"And you don't believe it for a second," I guessed, and he nodded.

"Right, I don't. I _know_ he's lying, and I _know_ he's going to try and kill me once I dig a little deeper. They always do. And so—"

"You're headed off to Egypt to see if you can find any clues."

"Yes, yes, I am—tomorrow, hopefully."

"Can I come, too?" I asked, even though I knew he would decline.

"No, it's too dangerous, Noll. It's best if you stay here with your Aunt Martha."

"But Aunt Martha's just the same as going to Egypt—"

"Oh, really? How?"

"I ripped my stockings again, at the knee. Second one this week, and its only Monday. Well, when I came home, Aunt Martha found out about it from the Butler, and she chased me out of the house, claiming if I ripped one more pair of stockings she'd yank my head off and feed it to a tiger."

"A _tiger_? That's a little harsh, don't you think?"

"_Harsh_? More like abusive," I laughed, "Aunt Martha says I should be more ladylike, and if I don't start acting like a lady, she'll—"

"Yank your head off and feed it to a tiger?"

"Exactly."

"So you _really_ want to come?"

"I've always wanted to see Egypt…"

"All right, then. You can come." A smile spread across my face and I ran over and gave him a hug.

"Oh, thank you, Tintin! You won't regret it! Well, I better be off—I have to pack." I walked casually out the door before I broke into a run and went back to Aunt Martha's house, where I walked up the stairs, opened a tiny door at the top, and slid inside my room.

My bedroom was six feet long and four feet wide. The walls were five feet tall. It was very cramped, and often I couldn't move. I went to my three-foot-tall dresser with two drawers and pulled out a pair of white stockings, a baby-blue dress and a white nightgown and put them into the small bag I had toted all my things in when I came to live with Aunt Martha three years ago when my parents died. Sighing, I sat down on my bed and thought for about two minutes before there was a loud rapping on my door.

"Nollie! Get out here right now if you're in there!" Not wanting to deal with another whipping, I slid underneath my bed, taking my bag with me. "Nollie! Andrea says she saw you come home—so don't you _dare_ try and hide from me!" I rolled my eyes. Aunt Martha could never fit through _my_ door, so I was completely safe if she decided she had to come in. "Nollie Roberts! When you decide to come out of that room, _Perkins_ will be waiting!" Oh, great. Perkins, the fat, lazy cat that does nothing. Like _he'll_ scare me. I heard Martha's heavy footsteps go down the stairs and knew I was safe. She was probably going into her room to have a spot of tea and wouldn't be out until the whole pot was empty. I opened my door slowly; saw Perkins sitting on the landing, staring at me through his big, black beady eyes, and slid out, walking carefully down the stairs and avoiding the two squeaky steps that had given my escape away many times before. I made it out the front door, finally, and walked imperturbably down the street to Tintin's house, my bag slung across my shoulder.

"Hello, Miss Nollie," Tintin's maid, Emilie, said as she opened the door, "Tintin's upstairs. May I take your bag?"

"No, it's all right, Emilie. Thank you, though." I slipped my black shoes off at the coat-rack and went upstairs to Tintin's office, Snowy at my heels, where he was mapping out a route to Egypt. "Hello, Tintin," I said, sitting down by the window. He looked up, startled.

"Oh—hi, Nollie. Done packing already?"

"I don't have _that_ much clothes," I said with a smile, "Besides, Aunt Martha went to her room to have some tea—I figured when _else_ am I going to get the chance to sneak out?"

"Will you be staying here for the night, Miss Nollie?" Emilie asked from the doorway, and I nodded.

"Yes, thank you, Emilie."

"Emilie, I told you, please don't come into my office," Tintin said, tone slightly annoyed.

"Sorry, Mister Tintin, I was just making sure our guest was all right."

"That's fine, Emilie. You are dismissed." The maid nodded and left, most likely to make up my bed. Tintin and I talked for a while, until the sun went down, and then Emilie called us for supper. We ate in awkward silence, both thinking of what would happen tomorrow, on the trip to Egypt. After supper, I headed off to bed.

I was still fast asleep when Tintin came to wake me up. "Nollie," he murmured, shaking me, "Nollie, come on, wake up. It's time to go." Snowy jumped up on my bed and licked my face. I moaned and rolled over, looking out my window.

"It's still dark out," I whispered, rolling back over and rubbing my eyes, "Why are we leaving so early?"

"So we can get a good head start. Come on, Emilie made breakfast."

We sat down at the table and ate the scrambled eggs and sausage Emilie made for us before we gathered our bags and headed to the street, where Tintin called for a cab.

"To the train station, please," he told the groggy cabdriver, who didn't seem to notice Snowy sitting in between us. The cab driver nodded and hit the gas. At the train station, Tintin found a freight train heading for Libya, Africa, and we snuck inside an open cargo car. "Well, this will be our home for the next few days, Noll," Tintin smiled, "There's probably food in one of these crates. Once we get moving, we can open them and get something to eat."

Within fifteen minutes, the cargo car doors were shut and we were locked inside. The train began to move after a while, and so did we. Tintin moved around the boxes, trying to find something, while I tried pulling the top off one of the crates labeled "BREAD". After struggling with the box for several minutes, Tintin appeared behind me.

"Here," he said, gently, and I noticed he had a crowbar. He went to the box and opened the top. I picked out a loaf of bread and split it in half, handing one of the halves to him.

"To Egypt," I smiled, and we both took a bite.

After several hours of sitting in the train, I fell asleep, using my bag as my pillow. Tintin stood guard, Snowy sitting by his side, and after a while the train lurched to a stop, throwing me into a crate. I rubbed my head, where I had struck the box, and groaned. I looked around for Tintin and Snowy.

"Tintin?" I murmured, "Where are you?"

"Here," he whispered from the far end of the car behind a crate, "Come on, someone's coming!" I hurried over to where they were and crouched down beside them. Just then, the car door slid open and two men hopped inside.

"Spain sure is nice, even in November," one of them said, "Now are you _certain _you saw those two kids get in here? This is the _thirty-first_ car, and if we're wrong again, the Boss sure ain't gonna be happy." I took in a sharp breath, fearing they would find us.

"Of course I'm certain, Ron. Hey—look at this! This crate's been opened—and there are breadcrumbs on the floor—they're in here. Call the others, we need to tear this place apart." I started panicking then, and Tintin put his hand over my mouth so they wouldn't hear me. When they jumped out of the car to find the other men, Tintin stood, taking Snowy in one arm, and climbed into an open crate in the corner, gesturing for me to get inside, too.

"Are you _positive_ they won't look inside the crates?" I asked as he closed the lid.

"Why would they? They don't think we're _that_ smart." After a few minutes crouching in the crate in silence, the men jumped back in the car and began searching around the wooden crates.

"There's no one in here," one man concluded.

"That kid—_Tintin_—he's pretty damn smart. He probably thought climbin' in the crates would fool us." I held my breath and looked at Tintin. Through the little light coming from the cracks in the crate, I could see his face, and he looked nervous. There was a frenzy of the men throwing the box tops open, yelling out "Not in this one!" before going on to the next one. Tintin, Snowy and I sat in fear, knowing that they'd eventually have to open our crate and we'd be done—they'd probably shoot us on the spot.

Through a tiny hole in the wood on the side of our crate, I could see a man's shoes walk right up in front of us, and the top of the box opened and then shut, quickly.

"Hey, Joe, come on, we're done here. They're not in this one," someone called, and the man's shoes walked away.

"Okay, Eric," the men hopped out of the train car and I heard the doors slide shut. Once they had left, I turned to Tintin.

"What happened?" I whispered.

"He wasn't actually looking in here, he had his head turned."

"We should get out of here now," I suggested, and he pushed the top off so we could stand up.

He was waiting for us, gun pointed right at our heads, when we got to our feet.

"Hands up!" He snapped, and we obeyed. "What're yer names?"

"Tintin—and that's Nollie."

"Ah, yew _are_ the ones I'm set out to keel," the man nodded, "I'll keel yew first," he pointed his gun at Tintin, and was about to pull the trigger when I stopped him.

"Wait—stop!" I shouted, and the man looked at me. He had a red eye and a yellow eye. "Why?" I asked, "Why?"

"Why _what_, missy?"

"Why do you have to kill Tintin? I mean, what if he's the wrong Tintin?"

"What do yew mean? 'Course he's the right one. I don't think there be any other Tintins in the whole world!"

"Are you _sure_?"

"Nollie—" Tintin murmured, "Stop. It's over."

"No, I don't think it is. You're not the Tintin he's looking for, remember? You're just a normal boy trying to get to Libya, right?" Finally, Tintin caught on.

"Yes—sorry, sir. I don't think I'm the Tintin you're looking for."

"There are no other Tintins in the world, kid," the man sneered, "Get out of the box, you two are coming with me." As we were getting out of the box, I noticed Tintin had a pistol in his back pocket, and I took it. When we were out of the crate, the man was ushering us to the door of the car when I stopped walking. Tintin stopped, too, confused, and the man got angry.

"Move along, girly, or I'll kill you right now."

"Maybe I should do the honors?" I turned, pointing the gun at him. He raised his eyebrows.

"You think _that's _going to scare me? Gimmie that," he reached to take it out of my hand and I pulled back the hammer. "Ooh, the girl's cocking the gun," he cackled, "I'm scared now." Without thinking, I pulled the trigger, and suddenly there was a loud _crack_ as the gun fired, and the man was thrown across the back of the car. After he landed, I noticed he was bleeding from the shoulder. I looked at him, sadly, oblivious to what was happening.

"_Nollie_! Nollie, come on! Nollie! Nollie, run!" Tintin grabbed me by the arm and dragged me with him. We threw the car doors open and came face-to-face with the men that had just been in the boxcar looking for us.

"_You_!" One of them sneered, "_That's_ Tintin! Get him!" They were climbing into the car when Tintin grabbed Snowy and jumped right over their heads and out of the car. I staggered a bit, afraid of hurting myself in the jump, but when the first man got into the car, I jumped. Once I was on the ground, I had to chase after Tintin, who was already twenty feet ahead, Snowy racing right behind him. I ran as fast as I could after them, for the men were close behind me, but I wasn't watching where I was going and I tripped on the asphalt, tumbling down and ripping my tights. When I fell, I screamed, and Tintin heard it. He turned around and saw me on the ground, the men right behind me. I still had the gun, and I heard him shout faintly,

"Nollie, shoot!" I remembered the gun and, as I got to my feet, I shot at the men, hoping to knock them off-guard. I heard someone crumple to the ground after I had fired, but I continued to run. Eventually, I caught up to Tintin, but the train was far behind us. We were on our own now, without any transportation but our own feet. "They'll wear out soon," Tintin said, panting, "Then we can stop."

He was right—eventually we slowed down and no one tried to kill us. We headed into a forest, and he found a little cave beneath some fallen trees, where we laid our bags before building a fire out of fallen bracken. I sat down with a wince—my skinned knee was bleeding and, well, hurt. Tintin noticed my little cry of pain and looked concerned.

"You okay?" He asked, and I nodded.

"Yeah, I just skinned my knee." Examining my wound, I noticed I had torn my stockings even more, and now the white cotton was red. I shook my head. "Aunt Martha's not going to be happy about that," I muttered.

"What?"

"Oh—my stockings are ripped again and my left knee is bloody from my fall. Aunt Martha's not going to be happy about it…"

"You don't have to worry about her."

"I wish," I smiled. After a minute of awkward silence, Tintin finally asked a question.

"So where _did _you get the name Nollie?" I raised my eyebrow.

"And where did _you _get such an odd question?"

"I'm just curious."

"My parents were going to name me Enolla, but they figured it'd stand out as odd—"

"_Enolla_? And they thought _Nollie_ wouldn't stand out as much as Enolla?"

"Are you saying my name is weird?"

"No—I'm just saying, it's unique. I'm glad they chose not to name you Enolla, though, you don't look like an Enolla."

"Nobody does. It's probably the ugliest name out there. So? Why are you Tintin?"

"I don't even know—I was too young to remember, and since I don't have any parents or family…"

"I get it. Martha's my only 'family' and she didn't appear until I was eleven, when my parents were killed."

"Her and her fat, ugly cat, sassy maid and grouchy butler just _appeared_ in your life and took you in?"

"Yep. I was sitting in the orphanage when the lady came up and said 'you have an aunt, kid, you're leaving this dump.' And I went home with Martha."

"She called the place a _dump_? Really now?"

"Of course she didn't, Tintin—" I teased, laughing.

We sat in silence for a while, watching the fire dance in the darkness, before there was a rustling in the bushes. Snowy lifted his head and growled. I grabbed the pistol, ready to shoot, but Tintin put his hand over the gun and his other hand to his lips, shushing me. The rustling was gone in a second and we relaxed. "It's nothing," Tintin declared, "We should get to sleep." I nodded, rising, and went to the cave, where I was making up the beds when I heard a shout and a bark.

"Tintin?" I grabbed the bags and ran outside, "Tintin? Snowy?" When they didn't answer, I began to panic. "Tintin! Snowy! Come on, it isn't funny anymore—" Suddenly there was a _snap_ of a branch and I turned, expecting to see Tintin, but instead I came face-to-face with one of the men who had chased us. I screamed as he grabbed me and threw me into a bag, lifting me off the ground as he slung me over his shoulder.

After walking for about twenty minutes, the man stopped, tossing me on the ground and opening the sack, yanking me out.

"What have you done to Tintin?" I asked, and he laughed. "Your little friend? The ginger? Mah boss probably tossed him in a cell. Little twit."

"What about Snowy? The dog?"

"Oh, that brute? He'll probably be shot for food. We need to feed you two _something_. Now shut up and keep walkin." The man shoved me inside the dark building.

"This the girl?" A man just inside the door asked as we walked in, and my captor nodded.

"Yeah. She's a feisty one, asks a lotta questions. Where're the cells?"

"Down the hall. The ginger's already in there, he sure put up a fight getting inside. Ha, knocked poor Joe right off his feet."

My captor threw me into a dark, dusty cell. I hit the floor with a yelp and watched, with the thin light coming through a crack in the wall as a man locked the door. After he left, my eyes got used to the dark, and I could make out Tintin in the far corner of his cell, huddled up against the dark, cold wall.

"Tintin?" I whispered, scooting over to the iron wall that divided us. He looked up, saw me, and scooted over to me.

"Hey," he smiled.

"We need to get out of here," I announced, "They're going to shoot Snowy." His eyes widened. "Do you have any ideas for escaping?"

"No," he looked at the ground. "Well, I do, but I doubt it'll work…"

"What's that?"

"You see that pole over there? I think, if you distract the guards, I can grab it and use it to get the key off that nail over there and get us out and free Snowy… Where's the gun?"

"In my bag, I think…" I reached for my bag, which was sitting on the outside of my cell, pulling it through the iron bars and searching through it for the revolver.

"Now aim for the hallway and shoot. Maybe they'll be dumb and think someone's attacking. Right after firing, put it back in your bag and put the bag back where it was."

"O—okay," I stammered, fearing I wouldn't be quick enough, as I pulled back the hammer, aimed, and fired.

The bullet went right through the wall outside the doorway, and there were shouts from the men. Tintin instructed me to get the gun back in the bag and put the bag back, and I did so, while he grabbed the pole and got the keys. When the man who had thrown me in my cell came in to check on us, Tintin hid the keys in his hand.

"What's going on in here?"

"I—we don't know, sir," Tintin shrugged, "We just heard a gun fire—sitting here in these cells, we can't do much, you know?"

"Yeah, right. Lemme see your hands, I know you two be up to somethin'." I held my breath as I put my hands out, palms up, for the man to see, watching as Tintin did the same, fearing the man would see the keys. When Tintin opened his hands, though, the keys weren't there. "Fine, you're clean. Have fun in prison." After the man left, I looked at Tintin, surprised.

"Where're the keys?" I asked, shocked. He reached in his pocket and pulled them out, jingling them slightly. "How did you do that?"

"Easy. He looked at you, I slipped them inside and returned my hands to their previous position, like this." He demonstrated to me how he had done his magic trick before standing, going to the door, and unlocking it. I got up as he unlocked mine, and we were free.

We stood inside the iron door that was guarded by the men, thinking about how to make a smooth escape. After thinking for two minutes, Tintin had it.

"The gun," he whispered, trying to take it from me, but I intervened.

"No—we've already played that card, what if they catch us?"  
"Good point. I've got nothing."

"_What_?"

"I've got nothing. We're stuck in here and Snowy's going to die."

"You can't have '_nothing_', Tintin…"

"Well, I have no idea how to escape from here, I'm pretty sure that's nothing."

"But we _have_ to get out of here!"

"I know, believe me, I do, but there's no way out." After standing for a few moments in silence, I reluctantly took the gun from my bag, went to the corner of the room, pulled back the hammer, and fired.

The bullet went straight through the wall, and there was a man's scream from the other room as it most likely went into him. I cringed at the sound and Tintin grabbed my arm, pulling me out of the room. He instructed me to go down one hall and he would go down the other, looking for Snowy, and that I was to fire another bullet if I found him, and he would have Snowy bark if he found the white dog.

I was hurrying down my hallway when I heard a dog's whine coming from a bedroom. "Snowy?" I called, opening the door. The dog was staring up at a man dressed in black, who was pointing a gun right at his head. I, without thinking, pulled back the hammer and jerked the trigger, aiming at the man's leg, knocking him to the ground. Snowy, with the man down, noticed me and ran out of the room and into my arms. "Hi, Snowy," I smiled as he kissed my face, "Let's go get Tintin." I ran down the hall and turned a corner to come face-to-face with three men, who all shouted at me. I screamed and ran back down the hall, crashing into Tintin, who had heard the gunshot. He took the revolver from my hand, shoving me out of the way, and single-handedly shot all three men down before returning to Snowy and me.

We then found the exit and got outside, looking around for something to escape on.

"Motorcycle! Nollie, come on!" Tintin shouted from the other side of the building, and I hurried over to him. There was a sidecar to the right of the vehicle, and he ushered me in. When he started the engine, the men poured out of the front door, and Tintin pushed me down as he shot at them and drove away.

After driving through the woods for several miles, we reached a little Spanish town.

"Let's hope they speak the same language we do," Tintin murmured as he got off the motorcycle, right in front of a couple of Spanish men. He went up to them and asked, in English, for directions to the nearest train station. "Good afternoon, lads. Could any of you direct me to the nearest train station?" The two men looked at him like he was crazy, and I rolled my eyes. Out of the blue, a Spanish woman walked up, smiling at Tintin.

"Hello," she murmured in a thick accent, "I speak English—they do not. The next train station is two miles down this road—there will be a sign."

"Thank you, ma'am. I wish I could pay you something for your time, but my money is no good in your country."

"I understand."

"Thank you—again—for your time," Tintin nodded, getting back on the motorcycle and starting the engine.

"Tintin," I said, quietly, looking at the woman suspiciously, "_that_ road leads to the ocean. I don't think she's giving you the right directions."

"Why would she tell us to go that way…?" Tintin looked down the road and nodded. "Right. She's trying to get rid of us because she's with _them_. We'll go find some _other_ English-speaking Spanish person, then," he muttered, starting the engine and driving down the road, like she had told him to. I looked back at the woman to see her smile wickedly.


	3. Africa

Two AfricaTintin and I stood at the run-down Moroccan train station, looking around. It had taken several tries, but we had finally found a Spanish girl who spoke a little English and was able to direct us to the train station. Thinking back to that woman gave me chills."Nollie, there's a train going _right_ into Egypt!" Tintin shouted, reading the chalkboard, "And it's a freight train, too! Come on, we need to hurry before it leaves!" He hurried off, Snowy at his heels. I followed, too, a little farther behind.

When I finally emerged from the station, I heard the freight train whistle and smoke come from its stack. I saw Tintin and Snowy standing in the door of one of the boxcars, and I started to run towards them, just as the train began to creep slowly down the track. I got up right next to the car containing my friends and tried to jump in, with no luck. Once I regained my balance I tried again, and Tintin grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. I laid there on the floor of the car, exhausted from my run, as Tintin closed the boxcar doors and laid down beside me.

"That was quite a run, eh, Noll?" I nodded, with a sigh.

"I should've been quicker to the train—I'm sorry, Tintin."

"It's fine, really. Anyway, we're headed off to Egypt now, everything will be all right there."

"Unless we run into more of those men that want you dead," I muttered, and he nodded.

"Ah, yes. But they don't matter. You should get some sleep now—it'll be a long trip to Egypt." I nodded and rolled over, falling asleep quickly. My muscles were aching and my bones were weary as my eyes closed.

It wasn't long after I fell asleep when Tintin shook me awake. "Nollie, Nollie, come on, wake up." I blinked my eyes open and looked at him, sitting above me, eyes focused on the door. His arm was wrapped around Snowy.

"What is it?" I murmured, sitting up, blinking my eyes sleepily.

"The train stopped."

"Does that mean we're in Egypt?"

"No, it's only been half an hour. We're probably still in Morocco." Tintin walked up to the wall and peered out through a hole in a plank of wood. He jumped in alarm at whatever it was he saw and went back to me, right as I heard a gunshot.

"What's out there?" I asked, going for the hole in the wall. He grabbed my arm quickly.

"We're under attack," he whispered, "Come on, we need to get out of this train."

"Is it the men from Spain?"

"Possibly, I didn't check."

"Well, then, _I_ will," I announced, going to the hole in the wall and peering through. Through the hole, I saw two men with guns pointed at a man in the boxcar behind us. He threw four bags out of the car before hopping out and putting his hands up. One of the men shot him, and he went down with a loud scream. I opened my mouth in shock and stared blankly at the scene.

"Nollie, come on, it isn't safe here," Tintin called, voice low, "We need to get away before they find us."

"That man was just shot! We need to help him," I said softly as Tintin walked up and grabbed me.

"And _that's_ why we're leaving right now." He threw the back boxcar doors open, and I screamed.

Two dark-skinned men stood there, guns pointed at us.

"There's a girl!" One of the men said, "Get her!" Without even a second thought on what they had said, Tintin grabbed me by the elbow and dragged me across the boxcar, to the other doors, which he tried to escape from, only to come face-to-face with five more men.

The other two men from the opposite side of the car were already inside, and they were gaining on us. Tintin shoved me on top of some crates as he grabbed the revolver from my bag and jumped up after me. There was an escape hatch in the roof of the boxcar, and he gave me the revolver and tried to open it.

When it finally unlocked, he jumped up on top of it, grabbed my hand, and pulled me, holding Snowy, on top. Suddenly, the train whistled and started to move. As it began to gradually move faster, I looked at Tintin in terror.

"What do we do?" I screamed over the roaring wind. When he didn't answer, I asked again. "Tintin, what do we do?"

"We're going to have to get onto the other boxcar," he announced finally. I looked at him, terrified, as he crawled over to me and reached out his hand.

"I can't, Tintin—" I said, "I'm not going to make it."

"Yes you will. Come on, now. I'll be right beside you." I looked at Snowy, who was clutched in his arm, and then back at Tintin.

"Okay," I agreed, taking his hand. Together, we stood up, almost being knocked down by the wind seven times before we got to the end of the car. "How fast do you think the train is going?"

"About ten miles an hour," he announced, "Not that fast, really. Get ready to jump in about five seconds." I took a deep breath and watched as he did the same before leaping across to the other side, where he turned around and gestured for me to jump as well. I took a look at the ground, moving fast below me, and shook my head. "Come on, Nollie!" He shouted, "There's a tunnel coming up and if you don't hurry, we'll all be swept off the train and killed!"

I nodded and stepped back a few steps, getting ready to jump. I ran at the ledge and leaped across—but my bound fell short and I fell.

For a few seconds, I could've sworn I was dead, but then I opened my eyes and saw I was hanging right above the hitches of the boxcars. When I looked up, I saw Tintin, clinging to the side of the car, his hand gripping my wrist.

"Come on, climb up!" He yelled, and I found a handle on the side of the car and put my other hand inside it. I then thrust myself upward, where I grabbed onto the side of the car and finally climbed onto the top of the boxcar. "You did it, Nollie," Tintin smiled, "Good job." I nodded, panting, crouched low to the train-car.

Tintin went to the hatch of this boxcar and opened it, letting me go in first with Snowy before he jumped down. The car was full of hay, which was nicer than the hard, wooden floor of the other car.

After a few minutes of looking around the car, Tintin, Snowy and I spread out on the soft hay and fell asleep. It was the first good sleep we'd had in a while.

We were in that car for seven days. Luckily, the train stopped once a day so the engineer and other railroad workers could take an hour-long break, Tintin would sneak out of the car and into another neighboring boxcar full of food, coming back with armfuls of fruits and bread. Why didn't I leave? He didn't tell me, but I'm pretty sure it was because he didn't want me almost missing the train again.

Finally, we reached Egypt, and boy was it hot for November. Tintin and I wandered around the little town the train had deposited us in, curious.

"Tintin, look at this," I called to him while browsing an outdoor market, "What a peculiar stone!" I examined it gently, looking at the odd inscription in the side.

"It says 'there will be two,' in Egyptian," he murmured from right behind my shoulder, making me jump in surprise.

"Goodness, where did you come from?" I laughed.

"That rock _was_ pretty interesting, I'm not surprised you didn't notice him sooner," someone said from beside us. I turned my head to see a girl with dark hair, piercing green eyes and pale skin looking through scattered decorative rocks. The girl was wearing skimpy clothing—it was hot, after all—and looked about eighteen. She had a very thin figure, but she was well built. She looked up at me and nodded. "You're Nollie and Tintin."

"Do we know you?" Tintin asked, and she shook her head.

"No, sorry, it's a force of habit. I'm a sorceress."

"An enchantress! So you can see the future?" Tintin sounded ecstatic.

"And a little bit of the past. I'm Rawnie, by the way."

"Rawnie. What a fascinating name," Tintin grinned, holding out his hand. "I'm Tintin—but you already knew that." She nodded.

"You're right, I did," Rawnie grinned, shaking his hand, "So this is how you greet people in England?"

"Oh, sorry, I guess I forgot to explain why I was doing that first," he laughed.

"It's all right, really," she nodded. "Would you two like to come back to my house?"

"Sure," Tintin agreed, and soon we were walking in the door of Rawnie's house, which was full of strange hourglasses, pocket-watches hanging by their chains from the ceiling, and oddly-crafted chairs.

"Please, sit down," Rawnie gestured, and we sat down, Snowy lying at our feet. "So, you're looking for clues to prove that man is two-faced," she murmured.

"He _is_, we just need proof—" Tintin began.

"He killed a man named Wallace a few weeks ago, Tintin knows it, he just needs to prove it to the police," I finished.

"The man's been trying to kill us the whole way here with his henchmen."

"I know the whole story, you two don't have to tell me," Rawnie laughed, "I can read your minds."

"Oh, is that right?" Tintin laughed, "Gosh, if you had told us that sooner!"

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"So what exactly _can_ you do?" I asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.

" I can see a little bit of the future, I can read minds, I can tell what people are feeling, and I'm still learning to talk to the dead—my master's getting there."

"Your _master_?" Tintin asked, eyebrow raised.

"Yes, Kioni. She's one of the most powerful sorceresses in all of Egypt."

"Can we meet her?"

"Why, yes, tomorrow morning, when she comes to deliver the cheese I buy from her sister, Niara."

"Cheese… Does it have magical qualities?"

"Unfortunately no, my dear sir, it does not. Say, I need to fix you two something to eat. Nollie, would you like to help me?" I jumped at the sound of my name.

"What?" I asked, dazed.

"I asked if you'd like to help me cook supper."

"Oh—I suppose so," I murmured, getting up and following her to the kitchen, where she gave me some dry, thin, hard bread.

"Break it into four, please," she assigned, and I did as I was told. The bread was harder than it looked to break, and after a while of trying to snap it in half, she finally took it. "I knew you couldn't do it," she smiled, "That's why I had you try it." I raised my eyebrow, confused. "I was testing my theory," she explained.  
"What theory?"

"That you really don't belong on this trip, you're just here to escape your cruel aunt and maybe find clues about who killed your parents—and—to be with Tintin."

"What are you talking about? I _do_ belong on this trip. I wanted to come on it—"

"And _why_ did you want to come on it?"

"To…to get away from my aunt, and to maybe find clues about who killed my parents—" Realizing how stupid I was, I broke down, dropping the bread and falling to the floor, crying.

"Oh! Oh, are you all right?" Rawnie dropped down beside me, putting her hand on my arm gently.

"No—" I shook my head, "I'm not."

"It's because you can't find the person who killed your parents, isn't it?" She asked, and I nodded. "Well, don't worry, Nollie, you will find him, eventually." The door to the kitchen opened and Tintin stood there. We looked up at him expectantly.

"Is everything all right in here?" He looked down at me, and I thought I caught his blue eyes flickering worry.

"Yes, everything's fine. Go sit down," Rawnie ordered, and he started to go, reluctantly.

Supper was, for the most part, silent.

"Well, this is neat, isn't it?" Tintin broke the silence, "Eating like Egyptian kings," he stated to me, and I nodded.

"Rawnie, would you excuse me?"

"Yes, dear. Would you like for me to show you to your room?"

"No, it's all right. I think I'll find it just fine, thank you." I nodded gently before heading up the creaky staircase outside the dining room. I found an empty room in the corner of the house with a window without glass and sat down on the bed, laying my head in my hands. After a while, I felt someone's presence in the doorway and looked up to see Tintin.

"You okay?" He asked, sitting next to me on the bed.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I murmured.

"What happened in there—the kitchen?"

"Nothing, really." He furrowed his brow at this, and I looked out my window. "It's dark—you should go get some sleep—we have to meet Kioni tomorrow, remember?"

"Right," he nodded, standing and going to the door. "You should get some sleep, too, Nollie," he suggested, and I nodded.

"I know, I will." He smiled slightly.

"Night, Noll."

"Night, Tintin."

I laid flat on my bed for a while, tears streaming down my face. I wanted answers—I wanted to know what happened to my parents—I wanted to know who killed them, but nobody would tell me, and my only hope was in Rawnie or Kioni.

"Do you need anything?" Rawnie asked from the doorway, and I sat up, wiping the tears from my eyes.

"No—I'm okay," I told her, and after a while of her standing in the door looking at me, I opened my mouth to speak again. "How did you know I was awake?"

"I could hear you from the kitchen. But let's not talk here… I feel there are more than just two of us in this room." I raised my eyebrow as I stood, wiping the tears from my eyes as I followed her.

We went outside, and Rawnie led me to a trail just outside her house.

"I heard you and Tintin talking in your room earlier."

"Oh, that? It's nothing, he's just looking out for me."

"You should really tell him you want him to consider helping you find out what happened to your parents," Rawnie suggested, and I stopped walking abruptly.

"I'm sorry?" I asked.

"You should tell him you need help finding the man who killed your parents."

"No—I don't want to sound stupid. I should've done that earlier if I really needed it—"

"How _did_ you two meet?"

"Can't you just read it off my mind?"

"I don't want to. I want to hear _you_ tell it, in your own words."

"Well, I first found out about him when I was about ten, a year before my parents died, from an article by him in the newspaper. His writing was striking—it captured the spirit of the adventure he had gone on just to prove his accuracy. I think it was the time he traveled to a tiny island to find the Black Key of Cirrus. It was said to be able to open the gates of heaven. Anyway, two years later, I was walking down the streets of England when I ran into him. He was running from these people—I don't remember whom—and he pulled me into an alley and hid with me behind an oddly placed wall. After the people that were chasing him left, he asked who I was, and I told him Nollie Roberts, and I asked who he was, and he said he was Tintin. I was pretty shocked to find out I was in the presence of one of my heroes, and after that I would just go over to his house whenever I felt like it and we just became good friends." We walked in silence for a few minutes after that, and it was peaceful.

"So what's Kioni like?" I finally asked, and she looked at me.

"Kioni—she's a lot like a normal teacher: calm, wise, careful… She has a lot of years on her, really hard years."

"What made them hard?"

"I don't know—she hasn't told me."

"Can't you just read it off of her mind?"

"I've tried—but she blocks that part of her mind off to others of the sorcery type. It's kind of a no-trespassing zone." I yawned at this and Rawnie smiled. "Looks like you're ready to go to sleep now," she said, turning around, "Come on, let's get back to the house."

I slept well that night, the best sleep I'd had since the hay-filled boxcar. I woke up late in the morning, the sun was almost to the peak by the time I sat up and yawned. After I had looked at myself in the mirror on the wall in my bedroom, I went downstairs to find that nobody was there.

"Hello?" I called, looking around.

"Why, good morning, sleepy-eyes!" exclaimed a cheerful woman from behind me. I turned around, expecting to see some killer, but instead came face-to-face with a frizzy black-haired, pale-skinned woman that looked somewhat like Rawnie.

"Who are you?" I asked her and she shook her head.

"I'm Kioni, Rawnie's teacher. You're Nollie, aren't you? That boy with the funny name talked about you a lot."

"Are you—by any chance—_drunk_?"

"_Drunk_? Oh, where do you get this _nonsense_, child? Ha-ha-ha, drunk."

"No, really—have you had anything to drink lately?"

"Drink? All I drink is water. Really, child, where _do_ you get these silly questions?" Suddenly the front door burst open and Rawnie and Tintin were there. Tintin hurried to me, grabbing me and pulling me outside as Rawnie closed the door.

"What's going on?" I asked, confused.

"We figured you wouldn't be up for another hour or so," Rawnie explained, "Kioni came over here like this."

"Drunk?"

"I don't think she's _purposely_ drunk… She's never touched a drop of alcohol in her life. She's _completely_ against it."

"Well is she normally _this_ crazy?"

"No—not at all. Normally she's like Tintin is, right now, quiet and minding her own business."

"I think someone tricked her into drinking alcohol and then tried to take over her to get her to kill us," Tintin murmured, "He must've found out where we were and that she was coming over in the morning and drugged her in her sleep."

"Well, when will the drugs wear off?"

"If I'm right, not for another day or two," Tintin said, looking through the window.

"Well then, what are we to do?" I asked Rawnie, who shrugged.

"I guess you two are going to have to leave," she suggested.

"But we can't leave—not yet!" I exclaimed, rather quietly.

"Yes, Nollie's right. I still haven't found any clues to if my suspect was lying or not," Tintin put in.

"Well then your only hope is to stay _far_ away from Kioni and Niara."

"We don't even know who Niara is, besides Kioni's sister."

"I suppose I should tell you Nia's story, then. Come on, we shouldn't stay around the house while talking about what happened." Rawnie led us into the desert silently, all we heard was our footsteps and Snowy's panting.

"Niara was the most beautiful girl in all of Egypt," Rawnie began the story as she took us beneath a shady tree, "Princes would come from afar just to ask her to be their bride—but she always turned them down, claiming she'd rather focus on being a sorceress. Well, one prince had his heart set on marrying her, and wouldn't take no for an answer. So, he came to her for the fifth time and asked her to marry him. When she declined, he threatened to have her put to death if she said no one more time…" Rawnie cut off and looked at me and Tintin. "Is everything all right?" She asked, and I realized Tintin and I were staring at each other.

"What? Yes—sorry. Everything's perfect," Tintin smiled.

"Anyway, he asked again, and Niara said no, so he called in his guards and had her taken to his dungeon. Now, remember, Niara is a sorceress, so she can do anything—" Rawnie cut off her story again. "No, really, you two—is everything all right?" When I didn't respond, she jiggled my arm, waking me up from the trance I was in. I nodded and looked back at her. "Niara, remember, is a very powerful sorceress, so she changed herself into a beetle down in the dungeon and scurried out through the window. Once she had crawled to safety, she changed herself into an ugly young woman, thinking it was only temporary, like the bug spell had been. Unfortunately, it wasn't, and when she woke up the next morning, she was still hideously ugly—" Rawnie stopped and huffed, angrily. "Should I just stop telling you Niara's story and we can just go back and face Kioni?"  
"No," I murmured, still looking at Tintin, "we're listening."

"So Niara is forever a hideous young woman, until she can figure out how to undo the curse. Maybe she just needs to visit a magic stream. The end. Come on, you two, let's head home."

The way back to Rawnie's house was awkward. I trailed along behind everyone shyly, embarrassed by being caught staring at Tintin.

"Kioni?" Rawnie called, opening the door and walking inside. The powerful sorceress was nowhere in sight. "Kioni? Come out, come out wherever you are…" There was a sound from the staircase and we all looked up to see the crazy-haired woman staring down at us, Tintin's gun in her hand.

"Looks like someone forgot their weapon," she smirked at Tintin, who stared at her fearfully.

"You two, get out of here," Rawnie instructed quietly, and I noticed she had a gun in her hand, too.

"We're not leaving," Tintin denied.

"What would you rather? A bullet in Nollie's head or to be safe elsewhere?" She nodded, reading his mind. "I thought so. Get out of here _now_." Tintin grabbed me and pulled me towards the door, right as Kioni shot a bullet at us, whizzing right over our heads. I let out a squeal of terror at this, and Tintin pulled me down to the ground, looking over at Kioni and Rawnie before continuing to the door.

Outside, I peered through the window to Rawnie trying to grab the gun from Kioni.

"Kioni, please, listen to me!" She cried, "Someone's drugged you so you'll do what they say."

"Nonsense, Rawnie," Kioni laughed, "Why would anyone do such a thing?"

"Because they want to kill Tintin," she explained, " You _have_ to believe me, Kioni, now please, give me the gun."

"Let me shoot them two Brits and _then_ I'll give you the gun," Kioni swayed, a grin spreading across her face. I looked at Tintin, worried.

"What should we do?"

"Leave. We ought to head for town and never return."

"But Rawnie…"

"I know, I know, she's our friend, but Kioni's going to kill us if we set foot in that house again."

"Not unless I get the gun from her," a voice called from above us. We looked up to see Rawnie smiling down, Tintin's gun in her hand. She tossed it down to him, and he looked surprised.

"How did you get it from her?"

"She fell asleep on the floor and just dropped it. We need to get you two out of here, _actually_ out of here." Rawnie started to walk away, and Tintin followed, Snowy at his heels. I sighed and followed, unhappy about being on the move again.

We walked all the way back to town before coming to a hotel. "You two can stay here until Kioni gets sober," Rawnie announced, "I'll pay."

"No, you don't have to—" I tried stopping her, but she looked at me funny.

"_You_ have Egyptian currency?"

"Well, no…"

"I thought so. Are you two comfortable sharing a room?"

"That'll be fine, Rawnie. We don't want to cause you any more trouble," Tintin said quietly.

"Really, we ought to be able to pay you back somehow—" I suggested, but she shook her head.

"You two are my _friends_, you don't have to pay me back," she laughed, "What are friends for?"

That night, Tintin and I sat in our rooms silently. He was examining his gun and I was looking at a book written entirely in Egyptian. Not knowing what it said, I shut it loudly and went to put it back on its shelf when he broke the silence.

"Would you like me to read that to you?" I turned around, surprised, and nodded.

"Sure," I said, getting it back down from its shelf and bringing it to him, sitting down beside him on his bed.

"Ah, this looks good," he smiled, "its called 'The Stone in the Wall.' Once upon a time, there lived a poor bricklayer. He was a very sad man, and he was very frail and old. His wife had died several years before and they had no children, so he was alone. One night, a ghost of the Pharaoh Abram the Fifth appeared to him in a dream and told him a prophecy of how his great-grandson was to be defeated. When the man told Abram he had no children, and therefore couldn't have any great-grandchildren, the pharaoh laughed and told him everything is not what it seems and that he had a son out there. Then he told him the prophecy: 'there will be two, and they will come to Egypt in search for answers and find your kin was lying and throw him in prison, where he will rot like an old apple…'" Tintin trailed off at this, and closed the book.

"What is it?" I asked, confused, "Tintin, what about the end of the story?"

"The prophecy… It can't _be_—" He flipped to the end of the book and read, his eyes wide. "It is—it is! Nollie, remember that rock we saw at the outdoor market when we first came to Egypt?"

"Yes, that's when we met Rawnie."

"It said 'there will be two'… And in the book, it says: bewildered by the Pharaoh's prediction, the man took a knife and caved into the stones that made the walls of his house, the prophecy. That night, still shaken by the Pharaoh's appearing to him, the man died in his sleep. The end."

"What a terrible ending," I rolled my eyes, "You think they would have a more happy ending…"

"Nollie," Tintin interrupted, "That prophecy was about us."


	4. The Prophecy

Three

The Prophecy

"The prophecy was about _us_? You got _that_ from a fairy tale, that a little prophecy and a rock based on it is about _us_?" I asked, bewildered.

"But just think about it…! There are two of us, not counting Snowy. We came to Egypt to prove a man was lying so we can throw him in jail…"

"So? I bet tons of people come to Egypt to find a man was lying!"

"Oh, sure, because _everyone_ just drops everything and says 'hey, let's go to Egypt to make sure that he's deceitful!'"

"It could happen!"

"But it _doesn't_."

"How would _you_ know?"

"I'm smart."

"You believe in a fairytale! How is _that _being _smart_?"

"It's not a fairytale!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Goodness, do you two fight like mad dogs," someone said from the door. We turned to see Rawnie standing there, arms crossed across her chest.

"How long have you been there?" Tintin asked.

"Long enough to know that _you_ believe in fairy tales and _you_ don't," she pointed at Tintin and then me as she walked between us. "Sit down."

After we were seated, Rawnie sat on the table between our beds, crossing her legs and holding the knee that sat on top with both hands.

"Now," she murmured, "You two are really sleepy and should be getting to bed soon—you're falling apart on each other even though you don't want to, and it _needs_ to stop. I mean, come on, you guys are _best_ friends!" After a few minute's pause, she added, "Kioni's gone home, if you two would like to come back to my house." I nodded and stood, Tintin getting to his feet at the same time.

"What about the room…?"

"Easy. Tell him there was a rat in here, he gives me my money back," Rawnie smirked.

After we got back to Rawnie's house, Tintin and I went right to sleep. We didn't bicker any more that night about the story; we just headed up to our rooms and went to bed.

I awoke to darkness. Rolling over, I peered out my window, thinking I would see gray clouds on the horizon through my tiny attic window, but instead the sky was blood red. Confused, I went downstairs, into the parlor of Aunt Martha's house. I called for her, wandering into the kitchen to find knives tossed around the floor and countertops carelessly. "Hello?" I called, going into Aunt Martha's bedroom, seeing the whole room ripped apart, the bed sheets were ripped and hanging from the ceiling, there were feathers floating around from the pillows, and the curtains were torn down. At this, I began to panic, and I went to the front door, which was being guarded by a man in a long, black cloak. "Where is everybody?" I asked and he turned his head, reached down, turned the door handle and opened the door, revealing a dark street. I didn't see them until I stepped outside, and after noticing I had tread on what felt like a dead mouse, I looked down to see a hand—a human hand, attached to a human arm, attached to a human body, attached to a human neck, attached to the _Butler's_ head! I screamed in terror, thinking that someone had murdered him. Turning, I saw more people lying on the ground, some with stab wounds in their chests. At first, I didn't recognize them, but then I started to look closer and realized I knew them—well. There was Emilie, and my old schoolteacher, and Andrea the maid, Perkins, a several kids from school, Kioni, Niara, Rawnie, Snowy and…

"NO!" I screamed, sitting up. Rawnie was sitting on my bed, and I hugged her.

"Shh, shh, it was just a bad dream," she murmured.

"But it was so _real_," I sobbed, "_Everyone_ was dead—you, Kioni, Aunt Martha…"

"It's all gone now, dear. You're safe."

"Is everything all right?" Someone asked from behind Rawnie. She turned a bit and I saw Tintin standing there, causing me to burst into tears again.

"Yes, she just had a nightmare, that's all."

"Well, is she going to be okay? Does she need anything?"

"Do you need anything, dear?" Rawnie asked me, and I shook my head. "No, thank you, Tintin," she dismissed him.

"What was your dream about, Nollie?" Tintin sat next to Rawnie on my bed, but I didn't answer.

"She doesn't want to talk about it," Rawnie muttered, irritated.

"That bad, eh?"

"Tintin, please go, you're distressing her even more…"

"No he's not," I said as he was turning to leave, and Rawnie raised her eyebrow at me. "What? Isn't it comforting to you Egyptians to have your best friend around when you're scared?"

The next morning, after I woke up, I went to a tiny stream shaded by a desert tree just outside Rawnie's house. I had been sitting there for a while when Tintin sat down beside me. We sat there for a bit in awkward silence before he finally said something.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you yesterday," he murmured, "After all, it _was_ just a story…"

"No, I'm sorry for not believing you. I thought a lot about it, and I feel you're right about the prophecy being about us," I looked at him gently.

"Should we go into town to try and find it—the rock?"

"I think it's worth a try."

Rawnie let us go into town alone, but Tintin kept his revolver in his pocket, just in case. We were walking through the dusty streets when we came across an alley, and I heard voices coming from it. I stopped and listened, Tintin doing the same.

"You sure those two kids didn't already check in there?"

"Positive! They've been hanging with that sorceress and her drunk teacher—'member, the one that the boss drugged to kill them?"

"Do you think she did away with 'em?"

"I bet. They probably didn't even see it coming."

"Should we still go make a fake reservation for the boss at the Hotel Pharaoh, just in case they got out alive?"

"No, they're obviously dead, or just not smart enough. They _are_ just a couple of kids." Tintin touched my arm gently, and I turned. He mouthed, 'let's go,' and we left.

After walking for quite a while, we reached the place where the outdoor market had been held, only to find it empty. After wandering the vacant place for a few minutes, a man walked up.

"Sir!" I called, running to him, "Do you know where the man that sells rocks lives?"

"You mean Mr. Oyphemus? He lives just a few blocks from here. There be rocks outside his house, that's how yew know it's his place."

"Thank you, sir," I nodded before running off with Tintin to find Mr. Oyphemus and our rock.

We searched for about an hour and a half before finding the house with rocks outside the door. Tintin ran up the steps and knocked on the door. A little door inside the door opened, revealing a man's eye.

"Who's there?" He grumbled.

"Just some buyers looking for a rock we found of yours a few days ago at the outdoor market," Tintin explained.

"Which rock? I got _thousands_!"

"One with writing on it—really exquisite writing, if you ask me," I explained.

"_All_ of 'em have writing on 'em, girl. If you really want this rock, yew better come find it!" He opened the door and Tintin and I walked inside, looking around in awe.

"There's so many of them," Tintin murmured.

"Of course there is. I told you, I got thousands!"

"Where should we start?" I asked Tintin, still baffled by the countless amount of stones scattered throughout the small house.

"Here," he bent to the floor and began shuffling through the rocks, briefly reading the inscription on each face before putting it back down. Even though I couldn't read Egyptian, I tried searching, too, though I was no use at all, for Tintin found the rock in my pile. "This is it!" He shouted, standing up, "Sir, this is the rock we've been looking for!"

"That one? All that trouble for _that_ dinky ol' thing? It's hardly five Gollanons worth, if you ask me."

"We don't have a single Gollanon, sir," I murmured.

"Well that's too bad then, isn't it? I'll be taking that, then—" he reached over to take it from Tintin, who pulled away.

"No—we're not leaving without this rock!"

"What's so special about that rock, boy? You trying to kill someone with it?"

"Not at all, sir, you see, the inscription on the face is about us—Nollie and I. It says: 'there will be two.'"

"'There will be two'? I remember that one. I found it while taking a stroll near a demolished little house quite a while back. Never understood what it meant, really—put it up for sale right away."

"But nobody's tried to buy it from you…?" Tintin clasped his fingers around the rock before putting the fist to his lips, thinking.

"Well, there was this one man, this morning…"

"Who was he? Describe him to me," Tintin inquired, and Mr. Oyphemus raised his eyebrow.

"Are you with the police?"

"No, sir, just curious."

"Well, he was a stocky sort of man, with hardly any hair. About thirty or so, but not an Egyptian man, if at all he had her skin." He pointed at me, and I glanced at my hands. The man was British.

"Did he give you his name?"

" It's Wilkins. Peter Wilkins," a man growled, stepping out from another room. My eyes widened as he pulled a pistol from behind his back, pulled the hammer, and aimed right at Tintin's head. Quick as a flash, Tintin grabbed me and ducked down behind a bookshelf covered in rocks right beside us as Wilkins fired the gun. He was pulling the hammer back again and aiming when Tintin pulled his revolver from his pocket, pulled the hammer, and fired. His shot knocked Wilkins' pistol from his hand. Then, he eased me to the doorway and sent me outside, where I was safe. I never actually went outside, though, knowing that if I needed to defend myself, I had the rocks.

Wilkins ran up to Tintin, about to slug him in the face when Tintin took a rock and smashed it into the man's arm, knocking him off-balance and to the ground. Oyphemus grabbed Wilkins' pistol from the ground and was taking aim at Tintin when the red-haired boy fired right at his shoulder, knocking him to the ground. He turned to flee, grabbing the rock and me at the same time.


	5. The Sorcerer's Ball

Four

The Sorcerer's Ball

We had been hanging around at Rawnie's house for two days when Kioni came to us. It was breakfast time when she knocked on the door, holding the invitation, which Rawnie accepted and brought to us.

"She says I can brings friends if I like," she smiled, opening the envelope gently, "She just didn't mention what it was…" After the envelope was opened, Rawnie reached her hand in and slipped the little card out. It looked like this:

Congratulations, you've been invited to

The High Sorcerer Shwanee Nikahh's 170th birthday ball!

When: July Twenty-Eighth, Nineteen Hundred and Twenty-Six at Dusk

Where: The High Sorcerer's house (if you're the receiver of this letter you very well know where that is)

Hope to see you there!

The High Sorcerer's Secretary,

Enorian Jashutra

"A _ball_?" I grinned, "Oh, how lovely! I've never been to one, you know."

"He's one-_hundred_ and _seventy_?" Tintin asked, "How is that possible?"

"You forget, he's a sorcerer," Rawnie rolled her eyes, "Sorcerers and sorceresses can live to be however old they please. Sorcerer Nikahh is going for three-hundred."

"Three-hundred years old," his eyes sparkled with the thought, "Could you imagine all the things I could see? And write about?"

"It's not that easy, Tintin—" the sorceress-in-training explained, "Living forever means watching the ones you love die."

"Did Sorcerer Nikahh know that when he decided to live to three-hundred?"

"Oh, yes, of course he did. Poor old man, he's been through so much, and he's seen so much…" I glanced at Tintin, who was staring at his shoes sadly.

"I couldn't imagine loosing my loved ones," he murmured, and, even though I had focused my gaze on something else, I could feel his gentle eyes on me. Everything went silent.

"Anyway, I suppose you two foreigners want to come?" Rawnie asked, breaking the quiet.

"_Do_ we? Of course we do!" Tintin answered for me, his excitement reflected in his tone.

"Well, then, I _ought_ to get you something to wear. Come on, Nollie." I followed Rawnie upstairs, to my bedroom. She opened the bureau in the corner of my room and pulled out a short, colorful dress. "How about this?" She asked, holding it out to me. I widened my eyes.

"You wear _that_ to Egyptian balls?"

"Well, only if you're a girl between the ages of fifteen and twenty-two…"

"I think I'll pass, really."

"What, and wear _that_? Don't be silly, Nollie, you'll look amazing in this," Rawnie insisted.

"But it's just so short…!"

"And what do you Brits wear? Dresses that go down to your ankles?"

"Not anymore…"

"Just try it on, will you?"

"Goodness, I didn't know girls were so fussy over what to wear," Tintin said from the doorway, startling Rawnie and I.

"Try it on," Rawnie instructed, placing the dress on the bed beside me before pushing herself and Tintin outside and shutting the door. I rolled my eyes and did as I was told.

Seven minutes later, I stood in front of the mirror, dressed in the little dress that's hem reached my knees, examining myself when there was a knock on the door.

"Are you finished, Nollie?" She called.

"I am," I replied, and the door opened.

"Oh, you look beautiful! Does it fit all right?"

"It fits perfectly."

"Do you want to wear it?" I made faces at myself, trying to see if I could pull off such a short dress, when I finally nodded.

"I think I can."

"Oh, good! You change back into your other dress now. Thank you, dear."

Two nights later, it was Thursday, and we were getting ready for the ball. After I squeezed into my dress, Rawnie had dragged me into her room, and she was brushing my long, brown hair out gently. I stared at my reflection in the mirror for a bit before I looked away, thinking.

"You look beautiful," Rawnie murmured, and I looked up, putting on a small, forced smile, "And I believe he'll think the same." I raised my eyebrow at this one. _Did she know something I didn't? _

Once she was finished brushing out my hair, she picked up a little black brush and palette of some sort.

"What's that?"

"Mascara. It goes on your eyelashes like so—" I held my eyes open as she painted the black substance that had been in the palette on my eyelashes carefully. When she was done, I relaxed and looked at myself in the mirror, stunned at how different I looked. "There, you're all ready for the ball," she grinned. I grinned back, shyly.

"Thanks," I said quietly, "You look really pretty." That's when I noticed what she was wearing. She was dressed in a silky green dress with only one shoulder. It sort of reminded me of something an Egyptian princess would wear, her dress, and I liked it.

"Oh, thanks, dear. Come on, let's go show Kioni and Tintin, they're downstairs." I stopped, nervously, in the doorway, and Rawnie sensed it, turning back to me. "You okay?"

"Yeah—just nervous."

"Of what? Kioni and Tintin are our friends, there's nothing to be afraid of. You're just dressed up nicely, it's not like you're wearing nothing." I furrowed my brow at the thought, and I nodded.

"Right, I'm not." I followed her downstairs, and when I walked into the room, Tintin stood up, blue eyes wide. He was wearing an ordinary black suit. Kioni, on the other hand, was wearing a blue-green dress, the bottom hem falling to mid-calf. Instantly I was jealous of her long-dress privileges.

"Well, shall we go?" Rawnie asked, breaking the uneven silence.

"We shall," Tintin nodded.

The walk to the High Sorcerer's ball was quiet. Tintin and I walked side by side behind Kioni and Rawnie. Finally, Tintin broke the silence.

"Where's Niara?" He asked Kioni awkwardly, and I saw her tense.

"She decided not to come." There was another awkward silence before Tintin asked another question.

"Why not?"

"My, you ask a lot of questions," Kioni said, her tone edgy, "Nosy little one, aren't you?" He made a move to say something rude, but didn't.

"I'm a reporter," he explained, "Asking questions is my job."

"Well we don't have reporters in sorcery, so I guess you're off-duty." I could tell Kioni was annoyed, and I hoped Tintin saw it, too. He opened his mouth to make a remark to her observation, but I quickly hit his arm, distracting him.

"Hey!" He said under his breath, "What was that for?"

"Keep your mouth shut," I muttered, "We're trying to make _friends_, not _enemies_." He nodded.

"Sorry," he said, hanging his head, "I just had to stand up for myself, you know?"

When we reached the ball, Rawnie went to the guard standing at the door.

"Tyro Rawnie Mirr," the man nodded, "and Master Kioni Karaar. Welcome. Oh—who are these two?" He eyed Tintin and I suspiciously.

"This is Tintin and Nollie. They're our guests."

"_The_ Tintin? The one who came here to—" Rawnie cut the man off before he could spill all the details.

"Yes, _the_ Tintin. Now hush—we're trying to not make a scene." He nodded and opened the door for us, and we shuffled in.

The ballroom was ablaze with lights and people dancing. I stared at everyone, eyes aglow with awe.

"Wow," Tintin murmured, looking around.

"All right, you two, let's get out of the doorway." Rawnie pushed us to the wall, where several chairs appeared for us to sit on. It wasn't long after that a girl walked up, dressed in a short black dress, and asked Tintin to dance. I felt my heart sink, and I slouched back in my seat next to Rawnie. "Go dance with someone, Nollie." I shook my head.

"I'm fine, really, Rawnie."

"No you're not. Go find some cute boy and dance with him. Believe me, you'll enjoy it."

"I doubt anyone would want to dance with me."

"Oh, come on, Nollie! There are _plenty _of boys who would be _honored_ to dance with you! Now go find one." I shook my head again. Right as she said that, she got up and went into the crowd, disappearing almost instantly.

It wasn't long after she left when a young, dark-haired boy walked up to me and asked me to dance. Taken away by his looks, I hesitated before declining. He left without question, and I was happy.

I sat, alone, for a few more minutes before I heard a familiar voice from above me. I looked up to see Tintin, and I smiled.

"May I have this dance?" I grinned and nodded.

"Of course you may." He took my hand and escorted me into the crowd. For some reason, I felt like Rawnie was watching us from the mob, smiling.

We danced for what felt like forever, in silence, before there was a scream from somewhere in the crowd. Tintin tensed, stopping our dance.

"What is it?" I asked, startled.

"We need to leave. _Now_." He grasped my arm firmly and began to walk through the frightened crowd for the door when someone walked in front of us.

"Nobody is to leave," he muttered.

"Let us out," Tintin said defiantly, but the man shook his head.

"Can't. The High Sorcerer is locking this place down until we find who the murderer is."

"Murderer?" I echoed, fear catching in my voice. "Who was murdered?"

"A young woman—I don't know her name." My heart nearly stopped. _Rawnie_!

"Oh, God. Come on, Nollie." Tintin yanked me back into the crowd, which was now circling around the body of the dead woman. I tried not to shake; worried it would make me look weak. I nearly screamed when someone grabbed my shoulder, twisting me around.

"Nollie! Tintin! Oh, Kioni, they're okay!" I relaxed when I saw Rawnie standing in front of us, and I ran to hug her.

"You scared me so much," I cried, "I thought you got murdered…"

"We thought it was one of you two," Kioni said from behind Rawnie, "And now we have to go."

"They won't let anyone leave until they've found the killer," Tintin explained, shrugging, "We're stuck here." Suddenly, there was another scream and a sickening sound as something hit the ground. I let out a shriek in fear and Rawnie grabbed Tintin and me, pulling us closer to her and Kioni.

"Rawnie, we need to go help Nikahh get out," Kioni instructed her Tyro, "This whole thing is worrying him too much, and he's so old he can't take it—" Rawnie looked from me to Tintin, then back again, like she would never see us again.

"Watch yourselves," she murmured. I blinked and she was gone and it was just Tintin and I, in the middle of a ballroom containing a murderer.

We stood there in silence for a while before someone I recognized came up to us. It was the dark-haired boy that had asked me to dance.

"Have any of you seen—" He looked at Tintin, eyes wide, before he turned to two large men behind him. "That's him, boys. Get 'em both." Tintin grabbed me, running towards the door. I noticed he had his revolver in his other hand.

Right before we reached the back wall, one of the big men grabbed me and pulled me towards him. I started screaming at this, and Tintin turned, saw me in the man's grasp, pointing his revolver at him angrily.

"Let her go," he said, teeth gritted. "It's _me_ you want, not her."

"But she's an easier target," the man that was holding me growled, "Come any closer and I'll snap her neck." At this, I let out a little shriek and began to try and get him off of me.

"Nollie, stop," Tintin instructed, and I stopped immediately.

"Drop the gun, kid, and we'll let her go." Tintin dropped his gun right as he was told without any hesitation, hands in the air. I expected the man to let me go, but he didn't. Instead, he slung me over his shoulder like I was a bag of potatoes and ran, the other man and the handsome young boy behind him.


	6. Capture

Five

Capture

I was knocked out halfway through my kidnapping, when they purposely slammed my head into a tree branch. When I awoke, I was lying in the middle of a jail cell, a terrible ache in the back of my head. I sat up, holding my head and moaning, trying to get a better look at where I was.

It was a lot like the cell I had been in with Tintin in France, only this one was much, much smaller and the bottom was made of rock, not cement, and there wasn't a bed. The iron bars on the right wall that divided me from the other cell and in the front were smaller, too. I lay back on the ground, tears welling in my eyes from the pain in my head.

"She's awake, sir," someone said from the doorway, and I sat up to see one of the men that had captured me, and the handsome young boy.

"Good. Bring her out." I watched, confused, as the boy left and the man walked to my cell; opening the door and coming in, grabbing me by my wrist and yanking me to my feet.

"Where are we going?" I asked weakly, and he smacked me on the backside of my head, where it hurt, making me shriek in pain.

"Shut up, you!" He snapped, and I was silent for the rest of the walk. Finally, we reached a door, and he marched me inside and sat me down on a chair, leaving at once. I heard the door slam and he started yelling at someone outside. "She's never going to talk, boss, I don't know why you're wasting your time! We could've just taken the boy and got it all over with right then and there!"

"She's _not_ a waste of time, Eli," the other person said quietly, "I know what I'm doing. Stand guard. Make sure nobody comes in. You'll know when I'm ready to have you take her back." I caught my breath as the other person walked into the room, afraid. When he appeared in front of me, I recognized him as the boy who had asked me to dance.

"So, you're with him, are you, pretty girl? Is that why you refused to dance with me?"

"No, I refused to dance with you because I didn't _want_ to dance with you."

"Harsh," he said teasingly, "I have feelings, you know."

"And so do I."

"So where is he? Your friend?"

"How should I know?" I shook my head, "You kidnapped me from right under his nose, remember? Last time I saw him, he was at the ball. What day is it?"

"Thursday night. The _ball_, you say?" He was a Brit.

"Yes, you were there, remember? You asked me to dance?"

"Ah. Yes."

"I don't understand. He was _right there_. Why didn't you take him instead?"

"What? Oh, your friend. I took you because I knew that, being his friend, he'd most likely come after you to save your sorry little life."

"And what if he does? Then your idea would be in vain." I saw him tense.

"Don't sass me, girl, you're my _prisoner_," I could tell he was starting to get annoyed with me.

"Oh, please. I won't be your prisoner for much longer. I've broken out of a jail cell before. I'm not as stupid as you." His anger was beginning to boil over as I said that.

"You have no right to say that, for all you know, you could be stupider than me," he growled.

"Tintin's smarter than you. He'll find a way to get me out without you even knowing."

"He's not _that _smart."

"Yes he is! He's very observant, too. I bet you're not even _half_ as observant as he is."

"Shut up! Just shut up and tell me where he is!" He whirled around, a knife glinting in his hands. I tried not to scream at this, instead I said, very calmly,

"I don't know where he is."

He lost it at that, and the knife was brought down upon my forehead, right above my eyebrow, causing me to scream in agony. I didn't notice the man walk in, grabbing me by my shoulder. The boy muttered, "Take her to her cell," and the man carried out the task.

I sat in my cell, back to the wall, crying in pain, my forehead covered in blood. It was first time I had cried like that since my parents had died, an uncontrollable crying, where everything became like a hallucination and the world spun around me.

When I stopped crying, I tried to touch my wound, letting out a whimper when I touched the blood spurting from it. The floor was crimson-red from the blood. I ripped a tiny piece from my dress and gingerly put it to my wound, trying to stop the blood. It stung for a few seconds, but then it didn't, and I relaxed. Eventually, I laid down and fell asleep.

I awoke to a gunshot coming from somewhere close to my chamber. Frightened they were coming to bump me off, I slid to the darkest corner in my cell, hoping they wouldn't see me, and waited. The door to the cells burst open and I nearly screamed in fear.

At first I didn't recognize him, until he said my name.

"Nollie?" I blinked and pinched myself, making sure it wasn't a dream and he had really come to save me. I saw him reach for the keys and come to the door of my cell, unlocking it and walking inside. "Nollie? Are you in here?" He looked around, not seeing me, before turning. I moved right as he was leaving my cell, trying to get to my feet, and he turned around again. "Noll? Is that you?"

"It is," I said, standing up awkwardly, stumbling a bit at first, but eventually I was able to go to him and fall into his arms.

"Nollie!" He said, happily. Seeing as I was dreadfully frail, he eased the both of us to the ground, examining my wound. "Damn they got you good," he murmured gently, wiping up the blood with the piece from my dress.

"Is it bad?" I asked feebly, and he nodded. "Can Rawnie fix it?" He stopped at this, looking off into space.

"I don't know where Rawnie is."

"What about Kioni?"

"I haven't seen either of them since last night before they went to help Sorcerer Nikahh. Come on, we need to get you out of here." He helped me to my feet and we escaped.

We went to Rawnie's house, which stood empty in the middle of the sand, the windows dark. Tintin helped me to my room, and we stayed there, sitting on my bed in silence for a while. Suddenly, there were voices from downstairs.

"I don't know where they went, Kioni, like I said, nobody does." I knew Rawnie's voice at once, my heart skipping a beat in joy.

"Well we have to find them! I feel like that poor girl Nollie's in great pain." _Kioni! They were okay!_ I got up, staggering a bit, and went to the door, Tintin on my heels.

We emerged downstairs and were looked at in delight by Kioni and Rawnie. Rawnie hurried to us, embracing us in a hug. "You're okay!" She laughed, "We were so worried!"

"Couldn't you just use your powers to figure out where we were?" Tintin asked.

"Well, _I_ could tell Nollie was in pain…" Kioni started to say, matter-of-factly, before she noticed my scar. "Oh—you're wounded!"

"Yes, is there anything you can do about it?" I asked as Rawnie sat me down, "Like, make it stop bleeding?"

"I'm afraid all I can do is prevent infection," Kioni murmured, "Until we get you to a doctor." I swallowed. "Rawnie, since you're learning, I want you to do it." Rawnie looked nervous.

"I—I'm not sure if I can…" She said, and Kioni shook her head.

"You know the spell, we tried it on Niara's cow that one time, remember? Just do it." Rawnie sat down beside me, placing her thumbs on both sides of my scar. She closed her eyes and I thought I saw a shiver run through her body.

"_Infectiousous_," she murmured, and suddenly a pain shot through my head, like the one I had felt when the boy had thrust the knife at my forehead. I grasped my head, crying out in pain, and I saw Rawnie jump back, afraid. "What's going on, Kioni?" She asked her master.

"The spell is just taking effect. She'll be fine, don't worry." As the pain began to lessen, I saw Tintin, standing about ten feet in front of me, his face horror-stricken. Once the pain had completely ebbed away, I put my hand to my head and closed my eyes.

"Are you all right now, Nollie?" Rawnie asked, sitting next to me again.

"Y—yes," I said weakly.

"Good. Then you two are fine with leaving immediately," announced Kioni.

"_Immediately_? Why?" Tintin asked.

"Because, you're in danger. Nollie's already hurt. There's a train heading for France in two hours, and you're getting on it," Kioni explained.

"But I like it here!" I said, dismayed, "And you're our friends! We can't just get up and leave!"

"Yes you can, and you will if you want to leave Egypt alive. Nollie, people are after you and Tintin, and they're getting closer to their targets with every hour. Think of all the incidents that have happened here. They drugged Kioni so she would kill you two, the phony Mr. Oyphemus and Mr. Wilkins, the boy at the ball… They're after you, and they'll get you if you don't leave." I lowered my head, understanding that we had to leave.

There's chapter five guys! I'll get chapter six (the final chapter) up once I get ONE review for this chapter! So go! Review! :)


	7. Departure From Egypt

Six

Departure From Egypt

That evening, Rawnie, Kioni and Niara walked us to the train station. It was an exceptionally quiet walk, and I wanted to keep it that way. When we reached the train station, I almost stopped and demanded we stay, but I knew the three sorceresses would object and throw us on the train anyway.

"Two tickets for the train to France in fifteen minutes," Kioni told the ticket seller, and he handed her two slips of paper. She gave them to Tintin, and I bit my lip. _This was really happening. We were really going home._ Rawnie led us to our train car, and I had to bite my lip to keep from crying.

"Now, right after you get to France, you get right onto the train for England, all right? No hesitations or anything, got it?" Kioni said, tone strict. Tintin and I nodded. Everything was silent until a conductor shouted there was ten minutes until the train left.

"Will we ever see you again?" The words just spilled from my mouth after the conductor finished talking, and Rawnie smiled sadly.

"I don't know, Nollie," she said, "But I hope so—one day. Maybe after I become a sorceress."

"We all will," Niara said, and I looked at the young woman in the ugly hag's body.

"Five minutes 'till departure!" Yelled the conductor, and I hugged Rawnie, sniffling.

"Oh, don't cry, dear. Goodbyes aren't forever," she murmured, "Everything will work out all right in the end." She smiled softly to me before parting. I went to Kioni next, who hugged me gently.

"You're a strong girl, Nollie. I wasn't that surprised when you escaped those men," she whispered, "But I mean it about finding a doctor. We sorcerers can only do a little bit." Then I went to Niara. Afraid I would hurt her frail body, my hug was cautious.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about hurting me," she laughed, reading my mind, "It's only the outside that's old. My bones are as young as you." I hugged her tighter. "I would've loved to have known you better," she murmured.

At that, the train conductor yelled, "All aboard!" and Tintin grabbed me, pulling me on the train. I looked out the window, waving to the three sorceresses and wiping the tears from my eyes.

We reached France with no problem. Nobody bothered us or tried to kill us. When the train arrived at the station, we bought the tickets for the train to England that left the following day and went to find someplace to sleep.

There was a nice forest adjoining the station, and Tintin and I set up camp there. It was late afternoon when we found a spot under the trees, a stream not too far from it. He built a fire while I went to get water from the stream.

After I had filled the canteen with water, I lifted some of the icy liquid from the stream, cupped in my hand, to my forehead, wincing as it stung the still open wound. I dropped the canteen in the water when I winced, and I had to reach to get it out, shaking off the droplets.

"Need help?" I turned to see Tintin, and I shook my head, standing up and holding the canteen out to him.

"No, I've got it."

"All right, well I got the fire started, so you can dry yourself off," he chuckled, and I noticed my skirt was wet from when I reached to get the canteen out of the stream. I blushed, following him back to the camp.

It was silent for a while as we sat, facing of the fire, watching it dance. I shivered, and he must've seen it.

"You okay?" He asked, and I shook my head.

"No," I murmured, "I'm cold and tired and hungry, and my cut hurts." He took off his trench coat and put it over my shoulders.

"I told you it'd be dangerous."

"But you knew I wouldn't take no for an answer, and I didn't."

"I'm glad you came, though."

"Me too." It was silent before I finally asked the one thing that had been on my mind for two days now. "Why didn't you find Kioni and Rawnie before coming after me?" He froze, and I expected the worst.

"Because… Because you're my best friend."

"So Rawnie and Kioni _aren't_ your friends?"

"They are, it's just…"

"Just what?"

"Rawnie and Kioni can fend for themselves. I knew they'd be okay, but you were kidnapped by the enemy, and I knew—"

"So you think I can't fend for myself?"

"No, I don't think that…"

"Then what _do _you think?" He was silent, and my heart sank. Whatever Rawnie wanted us to be, he was far from it.

"A few weeks before this, I realized something," he finally spoke, and I worried what he would say next. "I realized how beautiful you had become, since the day I met you, and how much stronger you had grown to be from that little girl in the street. I also realized that I—that I love you." My heart skipped a beat and I looked away, blushing.

"I love you, too," I murmured, and as he kissed me and I kissed him back, I realized everything that had happened during that trip between him and me was because he loved me and couldn't bear to see something horrible happen to me. It was the best feeling in the world, kissing him. The whole world seemed to spin faster and faster around us. It was so perfect, I never wanted that moment to end. His lips on mine, my arms around his neck, the fire crackling in front of us... When we broke, he smiled at me and I smiled at him before snuggling up against him and watching the fire.

The next morning, I woke up beside him on the ground, Snowy curled up beside him. I sat up and stretched, looking around at the gray world surrounding me, as the sun hadn't yet risen. The fire had died long ago, now it was just embers in the middle of the blackened, charred blocks of wood. I heard rustling from behind me and turned to see him sitting up, blinking the sleep from his eyes.

"Morning, Nollie," he smiled sleepily.

"Morning, Tintin."

"We should get to the station," he announced, "the train leaves at sunrise." He stood, helped me to my feet, and we went to the station, where we boarded the train and headed for home.


	8. The Return

Seven

The Return

We reached England the next evening, and it felt good to be home again. I went to Tintin's house first, and Emilie cooked us dinner.

After we ate, I went to the door, ready to leave.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Tintin," I smiled, going to give him a hug.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to Aunt Martha's—_home_—she's probably worried sick about me."

"_This_ is your home. You're one of us now." I gaped at this, astonished and overjoyed at the same time.

"But what about Martha…?"

"After we come back from the police station tomorrow we'll go to her house and pick up your stuff and tell her you're no longer her problem." I went and kissed him, delighted about the fact I would never have to be abused by my horrible aunt again.

And everything was perfect.

_My dear reader..._  
_If you liked this story, and I hope you did, I am adding Tintin and Nollie 2 (also known as Tintin and the Family Crest) as soon as possible (aka right after I finish writing this note to my readers.) I hope with all my adventurous heart you will go read the sequel-for Tintin and Nollie's sake :)_  
_Happy Reading!_  
_DisneyPrincess55_


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